The story was that the flashy ‘Pantera,’ once viewed as one of the promotion’s brightest rising stars, refused to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov and Ricardo Lamas after word came that he would be facing the former at August 4’s expanding UFC 227 pay-per-view from Los Angeles, Calif.

UFC President Dana White wasted little time in releasing the skilled but absent Rodriguez as he focused on the once-hyped talent’s lengthy layoff and refusal to fight:

“The guy’s off a year, rejects a fight with Lamas and then doesn’t want to fight a guy below him in the rankings?” White said. “He can go somewhere else. We have no use for him. He calls that fight fake news. This is real news.”

While it was thought that the pending release was perhaps a tactic to get Rodriguez to accept the fight, apparently it’s very real as Rodriguez has been removed from his No. 11 spot on the UFC rankings in the latest update. His removal allowed Mirsad Bektic and Magomedsharipov to rise up a spot each and boosted Myles Jury by two spots.

In other prominent rankings movement, surging middleweight Kelvin Gastelum moved up a spot to No. 4 for his close split decision win over Ronaldo Souza at last weekend’s UFC 224 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, dropping ‘Jacare’ three spots in the process.

Mackenzie Dern also made her debut on the women’s strawweight rankings despite missing weight for the division by an egregious seven pounds for her UFC 224 match-up with Amanda Bobby Cooper, which she eventually won by first-round submission.

While it’s definitely an accomplishment for Dern to debut on the rankings after two UFC bouts, the promotion has reportedly already said she will be forced to move up to women’s flyweight for her next bout, making her presence on the strawweight ranks a bit pointless until she proves she can make weight.